State of the Union: Obama pledges to go it alone in 2014

He doesn't seem to expect the GOP to play ball. Or to care if they don't.

This State of the Union could turn out to be very significant. Obama began by saying that he wants to work with the Congress. Then he said he didn't expect the Congress to work with him. Then he said that he doesn't care – he'll go ahead and do what he wants to do anyway. Constitutionally, this is troubling. But it promises an interesting year ahead.

The two things that really matter are the minimum wage and Iran. On the minimum wage he's promised an executive order to raise it for federal workers, with the goal of spurring Congress to do the same for everyone else. Good for him. Wages are far too low and there's a sound moral case for a hike. But this aggressive take on the subject, obviously designed to regain control of the political agenda, undoes some of Congress' established right to lead. Likewise, the President made an incredibly bold statement about Iran to the effect that he believes negotiations can work, he will make them work, and he'll veto any congressional effort to scupper them. Again, good for him. But hawks won't like it and it stalls some of the growing assertiveness when it comes to Congress' influence on foreign policy. In short, Obama intends to spend 2014 putting Congress in its place – not something a President is really supposed to do. The opinion of the legislature is supposed to matter.

The imperial decrees matched the spirit of the occasion. As the years go by, the State of the Union more and more resembles a cross between Versailles and the Emmys. Some might say that the endless standing ovations for the Prez, the First Lady's box, the chants of "USA! USA! USA!" are meant to reflect the significance of the office – but it doesn't lend it much dignity. And the significance of Congress is reduced. The event has become a stage for a not-so-subtle culture war. The Republicans brought the star of Duck Dynasty to reflect their ongoing commitment to pretending to watch ordinary people's TV. The Obamas brought a gay basketball player fresh (and, yes, bravely) out of the closet. The whole chamber erupted with applause when the President talked about US athletes attending the Olympics as a display of America's commitment to equality. Vladimir Putin has managed to make Congress gay friendly – quite an accomplishment.

Is all this hoopla what Thomas Jefferson would've wanted? Probably not. But then he never imagined a US in which purchasing healthcare is mandatory or in which the state is locked into a perpetual War on Terror. By the way, Barack Obama promised to end the Afghanistan conflict and close Gitmo. Again.

Nevertheless, this was an audacious attempt to regain momentum and defy the second term blues, even if the political reality of a Republican House is staked against him. For all his faults, Obama is in his office because the Republicans have failed to provide a convincing alternative. They've yet to strike the right balance between folksy and presidential. Take the official GOP response, which featured a nice Republican lady sitting on a sofa talking about life, love and the American way. It resembled an ad for muscle pain medication. It was amateur. It's why conservatives keep getting beaten.